Insider addresses theory about Bill Belichick, Jaguars' Trent Baalke

While mentioning that Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khan could fire head coach Doug Pederson at any time, Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio suggested that Khan could retain general manager Trent Baalke because Baalke and former New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick worked together earlier in their careers. 

ESPN NFL insider Jeremy Fowler touched upon that theory for a piece published Wednesday. 

"The prevailing theme from people I've talked to around the league is that Jacksonville will have little choice but to completely reset in the offseason and move on from both [Pederson and Baalke]," Fowler said. "Some within the team believe Pederson hasn't lost the locker room, and the back end of the schedule is manageable, with five of the six opponents currently holding a losing record. But that's probably too much optimism for this situation." 

Many within the NFL community were downright shocked Pederson remained employed as of Wednesday afternoon. After all, the Jaguars have gone 3-14 across their last 17 games under Pederson going back to their collapse during the second half of the 2023 campaign. Additionally, the play of quarterback Trevor Lawrence noticeably regressed after he signed a five-year contract extension worth up to $275M with $142M fully guaranteed this past offseason.

Earlier this fall, the Jaguars were named a potential landing spot for Belichick because he "has a really strong relationship" with Shad’s son Tony, who serves as Jacksonville's chief football strategy officer. Considering Belichick had "full control over everything" regarding football operations while with the Patriots, the idea of holding that kind of power with the Jaguars could lead to the living legend picking Jacksonville over the Dallas Cowboys come January. 

As much as Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones may want to replace current coach Mike McCarthy with Belichick, it seems highly unlikely Jones would give the 72-year-old the type of power he had in New England. 

Of course, such chatter about what Belichick may or may not be for the Jaguars only matters so much as long as Pederson still has his job. 2-9 Jacksonville is enjoying a badly-needed bye and won't play again until its Week 13 home game versus the Houston Texans on Dec. 1.